Our Father and God, You have established Your Church as a royal priesthood in this world, and so we intercede for the nations of men now, confessing on their behalf so that the grace of Your forgiveness will soon be extended to them all. Father God, we confess that in these troubled and unsettled times, …
Snobbery is not Excellence
We live in a generation in love with specialization. To a certain extent this is unavoidable—God has called particular individuals to particular vocational callings from the beginning of the world. But every believer is called by God to that vocation, and he is to pursue it in faith while oriented rightly to the rest of …
He Has the Same Problem
As one writer aptly put it, one of the reasons we go to church is to learn how to love people we don’t like very much. And the testing point of this is here, at this Table. When you come, you are coming as a reconciled people, and this means that you are not only …
Ingratitude Goes Deep
Our Father and God, You have established Your Church as a royal priesthood in this world, and so we intercede for the nations of men now, confessing on their behalf so that the grace of Your forgiveness will soon be extended to them all. Father God, we confess that You have ordered the boundaries and …
Druid Lesbian Softball Coaches
What could be the basis of making fun of other people’s liturgical or ritual religious practices? Isn’t the Lord’s vineyard a big place, and so where do we get off making fun of the color of the bag that some other laborers are using to put the grapes in? Isn’t that a bit churlish? Well, …
Don’t Bring That to the Table
We have been considering the Lord’s odd choice of table companions. First the religious fussers are upset with Him. “Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them” (Luke 15:1). But Jesus is not in …
See What Happens
We gather here as a result of the gospel, and we gather as a means of proclaiming the gospel. The ordained evangelist proclaims the gospel to those outside, and the informal evangelist shares the faith with others as it comes up. But all of us together are evangelical Christians, and we are all to be …
The Sin of Evangelistic Lethargy
Our Father and God, You have established Your Church as a royal priesthood in this world, and so we intercede for the nations of men now, confessing on their behalf so that the grace of Your forgiveness will soon be extended to them all.
The Critical Spirit
When we are critical of others, we are in it for one of two reasons. We are either critical because we are loving them, and are seeking their best interest, or we are critical because we are loving ourselves, and are seeking some way to compete effectively with them. This means that our criticism is …
Jesus Walks Right By This
We have been noting that this meal is a meal with Christ and, as such, it is similar to the meals He would eat during the time of His earthly ministry. And one of the characteristics of the meals He had during His earthly ministry is that they drew criticism from the pious. “And when …